Friends seek clues for what led to Sheriff Richard Berdnik’s death
Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik seemed at ease when he entered the Toros restaurant on Hazel Street in Clifton on Tuesday afternoon, according to sources who were there.
Accompanied by Undersheriff Nart Hapatsha, Berdnik was wearing street clothes when he sat down at a table and placed a food order.
He even smiled as he posed for a photo with Toros owner Huseyin Bayram, who earlier in the day was honored with a key to the city in a ceremony at the Paterson mayor’s office.
That may have been the last picture ever taken of Berdnik.
Shortly afterward, the man who served as Passaic County’s sheriff for the past 13 years walked into the restaurant’s bathroom and fatally shot himself, sources said.
Colleagues and friends were searching for answers on Wednesday about what could have happened to transform within a matter of minutes a somewhat festive scene into a deadly one.
Berdnik’s apparent suicide shocked and saddened law enforcement officials and political figures, many of whom said they saw no signs that he was troubled during recent encounters and phone conversations.
“It is simply stunning to learn of this tragic loss,” said Pat Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association. “Sheriff Berdnik was a true public servant who worked every day with the men and women of the Sheriff ’s Department to keep Passaic County streets and neighborhoods safe.”
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes on Wednesday morning said the investigation into Berdnik’s death was “active and ongoing.”
“It is with a heavy heart that the Passaic County law enforcement community mourns the loss of Sheriff Richard Berdnik, a true law enforcement professional, partner, and colleague,” Valdes said.
A week of difficulties
Berdnik recently endured what may have been his most difficult week as a public official. Federal authorities on Jan. 17 arrested three of his officers in a jail beating case. The next day, Berdnik had to issue a memo announcing layoffs of 29 corrections officers because of the shutdown of the county jail.
There were other problems looming, including nine pending lawsuits filed by jail inmates saying they were mistreated at the jail Berdnik oversaw. A Superior Court judge had scheduled a conference for Feb. 20 to discuss the possibility of consolidating the litigation.
But people in law enforcement and politics said handling lawsuits, layoffs and accusations against jail guards are normal parts of the job of being a county sheriff in New Jersey. Berdnik’s friends and political allies said they don’t think any of those things prompted him to take his life.
In fact, in announcing last week’s arrests, the United States Attorney’s Office credited Berdnik and his internal affairs division for their assistance in the FBI probe.
Meanwhile, multiple sources said Passaic County and its Sheriff’s Office may be among the government entities victimized in a $35 million fraud case also being handled by federal law enforcement officials.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger an